No new HOF members ... no problem

I'm guilty as the next guy of cheering for Mark McGwire when he was en route to the single-season home run record in the magical summer of '98.
    
I'm guilty of being a fan of "The Rocket," not a fan of "Slammin' Sammy," and by the time Barry Lamar Bonds broke all the home run records, I wasn't as naive.
    
I'm also guilty of not losing a wink of sleep knowing none of those players were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week.
    

[[In-content Ad]]I've read a variety of opinions on this topic, and there probably isn't a person that is a fan of baseball who doesn't have some sort of thought on the exclusion of the aforementioned men or some others. I lean toward the group that says to keep them out of the hallowed hall.
    
Yes, I'm starting out with the tired argument of Pete Rose deserving to be in the Hall … but if Charlie Hustle isn't in the Hall, as a player, for his on-field performance, then who are we to judge baseball writers who decided to not vote for Bonds, McGwire and company? (Though those same writers should have maybe brought up the topic a little earlier, don't ya think?)
    
McGwire is a self-admitted PED (performance enhancing drug) user (remember his sit-down interview) who tainted one of most prestigious records in all of sports … and sadly, I was a high schooler who spent money purchasing his products at that time.
    
And then there is Bonds.
    
What can we say about this guy? Sure, he was a great – actually, he's one of the greatest baseball players to ever live – but did he cheat and ruin the all-time home run mark? I'll let you decide. I've read "The Game of Shadows" and a book by Jeff Pearlman (who I feel is one of the most trusted and best biographers living today) "Love Me, Hate Me," and after turing the pages of those those two books, while reading parts of the infamous Mitchell Report and numerous other articles, I can say I would never vote for Bonds to gain entrance to the Hall. So if Bonds or McGwire ever make the Hall, then Peter Edward Rose should be at the front of the line.
 
Those who argue for McGwire's entrance, even after he's an admitted cheater, can't argue Rose should never be allowed.
    
At least Rose didn't cheat to break records, like some of his baseball contemporaries.
    
Maybe I'm dreaming of a baseball utopian land that is PED-free –which, by the way, will never fully happen – but I do want a Hall of Fame that is free of those who used PEDs to enhance the level of their game because even if it doesn't improve hand-to-eye coordination, it can turn an already-great baseball player into an even greater one: hitters hit the ball further, a pitcher adds a couple miles per hour to his pitches or a base runner reaches the next base a little faster. If you tell me it doesn't, then why did McGwire use them when he was blasting home runs to Mars?
    
Exactly.
    
I think most of all, I'm embarrassed for MLB for being so naive and gutless back in the late '90s for not putting a stop to it, before those records and this current mess of voting ever took place. In my mind, Hank Aaron and Roger Maris are still the record holders.
    
I'm embarrassed I fell for the "long ball" shtick during the so-called magical summer of '98.
    
I'm embarrassed that at 28 years old I care so much about a home run record, a sport's Hall of Fame and about players who could really not care less of what I think of them one way or another. I'm embarrassed that I'm writing about it because in the grand scheme of life, the records and PEDs mean very little.
    
I'm not worried about the morals and integrity of any athlete away from the baseball diamond or field of play because it is not my business how they choose to live their life when it doesn't pertain to their sport. However, I would like to be able to know that every time I watch a game, the pitcher isn't throwing the extra mile or two faster because they are juicing, or the ball isn't going over the fence because a player was able to rep out a few extra curls at the end of a workout due to the fact he had the help of some pills or a shot.
    
Too many home runs and strikeouts are boring, and once the use of PEDs got completely out of control in the late '90s and early 2000s, I, too, got bored with baseball.
    
I'm part of the blame as well (a lot of us are) because in the late '90s, all I cared about was the home run and how many McGwire or Sosa hit on a daily basis in their pursuit of the record, which lasted all of three years when Bonds hit 73 homers in ’01. (Honestly, how far was the wool pulled over our eyes with one-year home run numbers of 70 and 73 ... and to never even think twice of it?)
    
Maybe I do have a holier-than-thou mindset (with blinders) when it comes to the exclusion of many players from my generation, my childhood, but so be it. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right, but those players know what they did and did not do, and they are the ones who have to live with those decisions, not me.
    
I can only end this by saying to the players who didn't do things the fair and decent way, I give a Sosa trademark … a kiss to the fingers, a tap to the chest (repeat) and a peace sign … good riddance.
    
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.